Checkpoint 1
I'm not sure what text I will be using yet, but I have a meeting with Dr. Kisha Tracy tomorrow to discuss that. My goal is that I find something that I am interested in and want to learn about.
Schedule:
After I know which text I'll be using, I want to read a little everyday to make sure I am understanding everything that is happening and become familiar with the language and writing style.
Checkpoint 2
Clerk's Tale Summary: Walter was a young King who lived on the western shores of Italy. Marriage was not on him mind until it was brought up to him by a delegation of lords who wanted an heir to the throne. Walter and the lords come to the agreement that they will choose the wedding day and he will choose his own bride. Walter has his heart set on Griselda, the daughter of Janicula, the poorest man in Saluzzo, the surrounding town to the kingdom. Although she is very poor, her beauty stands above all. After getting consent from Janicula to marry Griselda, he asks her to marry him on the condition that she will obey him and to do so cheerfully, even if it caused her pain. She agrees to these conditions and they are married. Shortly after they are married Griselda has a daughter. To test her loyalty to him, Walter has the baby taken away to live with his sister. When the King’s agent arrives to take the child, Griselda does not indicate that she has any objections. The same thing happens four years later when she has a son. As a final test to her loyalty to him, Walter gets fake Papal papers that declare him a man free from Griselda. On top of this, he shares his intent to marry another woman. Like the other tests, Griselda does not object, but takes the news with a heavy heart. Walter asks Griselda to be in charge of the wedding between him and his new wife. While she is preparing the girl, Walter decides that he can’t stand how awful he has been to her and decides to tell her the truth. He confesses that the girl she is preparing is actually her own daughter and the young boy is her son. He also tells her that all of the cruel things he has done to her were just a test of her loyalty to him. Due to the fact that she has passed all of these test, Griselda and Walter live the rest of their lives together and their son later becomes king.
Quotes:
“I ask this: are you ready with good heart to do all I wish, that I may freely cause you to laugh or to grieve as seems best to me, and that you never shall complain about it day or night, and that when I say 'yes,' you will never say 'no,' neither by word nor frowning expression? Swear this, and here I swear our alliance." 353-357 In this quote, Walter is laying out the conditions to Griselda to be married to him. Marriage is a pretty serious agreement, but Walter is taking it farther than it needs to go so he knows she will be loyal. Griselda doesn’t know the tests he will put her through yet, but she happily agrees to marry him. Although money does not seem to be a driving force in her decision, the fact that she is going from “rags to riches” could have been a deciding factor. She goes on in lines 363 and 364 by telling him that she will never disobey him.
“And, in truth, especially since your daughter was born, they have spoken these words. But I desire to live my life in quiet and peace with them as before. I cannot be careless in this matter. I must act for the best with your daughter; not as I wish, but only as my people desire. And yet I am loath to do this thing, God knows. And without your knowledge I will not act; but I desire that you give me your consent in this thing.” 491-496 This is the first test Walter puts Griselda though. He is doing all of this just to test her loyalty. What she doesn’t know yet is that he is taking her away, but the daughter will be safe because she is staying with Walters sister, her aunt. Walter does this again with the son that she will have later in the story. Because Griselda does not argue with her husbands decision on both occasions, this demonstrates the way Chaucer wrote women in the Middle Ages. He often wrote them as being dynamic to show the contrast between the males and females in relationships.
"This is enough, my Griselda. Be no more aghast," said he, "nor displeased. I have tested your loyalty and your kindness both in a great rank and in poverty, as well as ever woman was tested. Now I know, dear wife, your steadfastness." And he took her in his arms and began to kiss her. And she in her wonder paid no attention to it; she did not hear what he said to her. She acted as if she had just started out of a sleep, until she came to her senses out of her dazedness. 1061 Walter is finally satisfied with the way she has passed his tests of loyalty, so he decides to come clean with everything. She reacts the same way she has reacted in the past when he tells her something, very reserved. It was only after convincing that all of the things he’s done to her were tests that she believed him. Only then was she “piteously joyful” (1079) that Walter had saved the children and that she can live in his love and grace forever.
Annotated Bibliography Marcotte, Andrea, “Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales: Rhetoric and Gender in Marriage” (2007). University of New Orleans Thesis and Dissertations. Paper 591.
Marcotte’s dissertation talks about what constitutes the ideal marriage in Middle Ages. She examines how Chaucer wrote is female characters, specifically the wives. Chaucer creates very dynamic female characters to demonstrate the hierarchies that restrict women in marriage. Her work cited credits many academic journals such as the Modern Language Association of America (PMLA). The four issues they publish each year focus on academic essays pertaining to language and literature. The journal is sent to 26,000 colleges and universities, and 1,800 libraries throughout the world. Another journal she cites is the Speculum journal published by The Medieval Academy of America since 1926. Their extensive contributions range in all fields of study regarding the Middle Ages. European, Arabic, Byzantine, Hebrew, and Slavic studies are included. The dissertation written by Marcotte illuminates the Clerk’s tale because Griselda, the woman figure represents how Chaucer was writing women at the time. This means she demonstrates extreme characteristics of the woman side of marriage. Anyone wanting to learn about gender roles in marriage during the Middle Ages would benefit from reading this dissertation.
Brandon, Robert R., II. ""And Gladly Wolde He Teche": Chaucer's Use of Source Materials in the "Clerk's Tale."" Estu.edu. East Tennessee State University, May 2005. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
The source materials used for the making of The Clerk’s Tale were from other similar stories with common themes. Giovanni Boccaccio, another author and poet from the same time as Chaucer, wrote the Decameron tales, which were stories pertaining elements of the Cupid/Psyche folk-tales. Francesco Petrarch, another author and poet, wrote the story “Epistolae Seniles’ from XVII.3 which focused on a more secular lesson on marriage. With these two readings it makes sense that Chaucer’s Clerk chooses to tell a story that fuses such foreign concepts together. Brandon cites many books in his work cited. They were published from serval universities such as the University of California at Berkley and University of Western Michigan. Anyone wanting to learn about how Chaucer came up with everything in the Clerk’s Tale and what his source materials were, this dissertation would be highly informative.
Hodges, Laura F. "Reading Griselda's Smocks in the Clerk's Tale." The Chauser Review 44 (2009): 84-109. Jhu.edu. John Hopkins University, 1 Nov. 2009. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Laura Hodges talks about the the basic undergarment, the smock, and how it speaks to readers regarding the social status of the character. This comes into play many times during The Clerk’s Tale when Walter is speaking to Griselda for the first time in her “poor” clothes representing a peasant status, and again when she is married to Walter, but this time she is representing nobility status. The author Laura Hodges has written many journal articles for John Hopkins University regarding the topic of Chaucer’s writings, specifically the Canterbury Tales. She has collaborated not only with University journals, but with the Milton S. Eisenhower Library on the John Hopkins campus. Anyone interested in learning about the deeper meaning of clothing and what it represents should look into reading her work, specifically this journal article.
Checkpoint 1
I'm not sure what text I will be using yet, but I have a meeting with Dr. Kisha Tracy tomorrow to discuss that. My goal is that I find something that I am interested in and want to learn about.
Schedule:
After I know which text I'll be using, I want to read a little everyday to make sure I am understanding everything that is happening and become familiar with the language and writing style.
Checkpoint 2
Clerk's Tale Summary:
Walter was a young King who lived on the western shores of Italy. Marriage was not on him mind until it was brought up to him by a delegation of lords who wanted an heir to the throne. Walter and the lords come to the agreement that they will choose the wedding day and he will choose his own bride.
Walter has his heart set on Griselda, the daughter of Janicula, the poorest man in Saluzzo, the surrounding town to the kingdom. Although she is very poor, her beauty stands above all. After getting consent from Janicula to marry Griselda, he asks her to marry him on the condition that she will obey him and to do so cheerfully, even if it caused her pain. She agrees to these conditions and they are married.
Shortly after they are married Griselda has a daughter. To test her loyalty to him, Walter has the baby taken away to live with his sister. When the King’s agent arrives to take the child, Griselda does not indicate that she has any objections. The same thing happens four years later when she has a son.
As a final test to her loyalty to him, Walter gets fake Papal papers that declare him a man free from Griselda. On top of this, he shares his intent to marry another woman. Like the other tests, Griselda does not object, but takes the news with a heavy heart.
Walter asks Griselda to be in charge of the wedding between him and his new wife. While she is preparing the girl, Walter decides that he can’t stand how awful he has been to her and decides to tell her the truth. He confesses that the girl she is preparing is actually her own daughter and the young boy is her son. He also tells her that all of the cruel things he has done to her were just a test of her loyalty to him.
Due to the fact that she has passed all of these test, Griselda and Walter live the rest of their lives together and their son later becomes king.
Quotes:
“I ask this: are you ready with good heart to do all I wish, that I may freely cause you to laugh or to grieve as seems best to me, and that you never shall complain about it day or night, and that when I say 'yes,' you will never say 'no,' neither by word nor frowning expression? Swear this, and here I swear our alliance." 353-357
In this quote, Walter is laying out the conditions to Griselda to be married to him. Marriage is a pretty serious agreement, but Walter is taking it farther than it needs to go so he knows she will be loyal. Griselda doesn’t know the tests he will put her through yet, but she happily agrees to marry him. Although money does not seem to be a driving force in her decision, the fact that she is going from “rags to riches” could have been a deciding factor. She goes on in lines 363 and 364 by telling him that she will never disobey him.
“And, in truth, especially since your daughter was born, they have spoken these words. But I desire to live my life in quiet and peace with them as before. I cannot be careless in this matter. I must act for the best with your daughter; not as I wish, but only as my people desire. And yet I am loath to do this thing, God knows. And without your knowledge I will not act; but I desire that you give me your consent in this thing.” 491-496
This is the first test Walter puts Griselda though. He is doing all of this just to test her loyalty. What she doesn’t know yet is that he is taking her away, but the daughter will be safe because she is staying with Walters sister, her aunt. Walter does this again with the son that she will have later in the story. Because Griselda does not argue with her husbands decision on both occasions, this demonstrates the way Chaucer wrote women in the Middle Ages. He often wrote them as being dynamic to show the contrast between the males and females in relationships.
"This is enough, my Griselda. Be no more aghast," said he, "nor displeased. I have tested your loyalty and your kindness both in a great rank and in poverty, as well as ever woman was tested. Now I know, dear wife, your steadfastness." And he took her in his arms and began to kiss her. And she in her wonder paid no attention to it; she did not hear what he said to her. She acted as if she had just started out of a sleep, until she came to her senses out of her dazedness. 1061
Walter is finally satisfied with the way she has passed his tests of loyalty, so he decides to come clean with everything. She reacts the same way she has reacted in the past when he tells her something, very reserved. It was only after convincing that all of the things he’s done to her were tests that she believed him. Only then was she “piteously joyful” (1079) that Walter had saved the children and that she can live in his love and grace forever.
Annotated Bibliography
Marcotte, Andrea, “Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales: Rhetoric and Gender in Marriage” (2007). University of New Orleans Thesis and Dissertations. Paper 591.
Marcotte’s dissertation talks about what constitutes the ideal marriage in Middle Ages. She examines how Chaucer wrote is female characters, specifically the wives. Chaucer creates very dynamic female characters to demonstrate the hierarchies that restrict women in marriage. Her work cited credits many academic journals such as the Modern Language Association of America (PMLA). The four issues they publish each year focus on academic essays pertaining to language and literature. The journal is sent to 26,000 colleges and universities, and 1,800 libraries throughout the world. Another journal she cites is the Speculum journal published by The Medieval Academy of America since 1926. Their extensive contributions range in all fields of study regarding the Middle Ages. European, Arabic, Byzantine, Hebrew, and Slavic studies are included.
The dissertation written by Marcotte illuminates the Clerk’s tale because Griselda, the woman figure represents how Chaucer was writing women at the time. This means she demonstrates extreme characteristics of the woman side of marriage. Anyone wanting to learn about gender roles in marriage during the Middle Ages would benefit from reading this dissertation.
Brandon, Robert R., II. ""And Gladly Wolde He Teche": Chaucer's Use of Source Materials in the "Clerk's Tale."" Estu.edu. East Tennessee State University, May 2005. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
The source materials used for the making of The Clerk’s Tale were from other similar stories with common themes. Giovanni Boccaccio, another author and poet from the same time as Chaucer, wrote the Decameron tales, which were stories pertaining elements of the Cupid/Psyche folk-tales. Francesco Petrarch, another author and poet, wrote the story “Epistolae Seniles’ from XVII.3 which focused on a more secular lesson on marriage. With these two readings it makes sense that Chaucer’s Clerk chooses to tell a story that fuses such foreign concepts together. Brandon cites many books in his work cited. They were published from serval universities such as the University of California at Berkley and University of Western Michigan. Anyone wanting to learn about how Chaucer came up with everything in the Clerk’s Tale and what his source materials were, this dissertation would be highly informative.
Hodges, Laura F. "Reading Griselda's Smocks in the Clerk's Tale." The Chauser Review 44 (2009): 84-109. Jhu.edu. John Hopkins University, 1 Nov. 2009. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Laura Hodges talks about the the basic undergarment, the smock, and how it speaks to readers regarding the social status of the character. This comes into play many times during The Clerk’s Tale when Walter is speaking to Griselda for the first time in her “poor” clothes representing a peasant status, and again when she is married to Walter, but this time she is representing nobility status. The author Laura Hodges has written many journal articles for John Hopkins University regarding the topic of Chaucer’s writings, specifically the Canterbury Tales. She has collaborated not only with University journals, but with the Milton S. Eisenhower Library on the John Hopkins campus. Anyone interested in learning about the deeper meaning of clothing and what it represents should look into reading her work, specifically this journal article.